Irvine Party City moves across the street to Tustin

Party City made a short move Monday, from a storefront on the Irvine side of The Market Place, into a bigger spot on the Tustin side of the shopping center.

The Irvine location – one of the top-selling Party City stores on the West Coast – sat near Loehmann's on Jamboree Road. It had been located in Irvine since 1996.

The store was looking to expand into a larger space. It found that space on El Camino Real, where it is now housed near Home Depot and Pier 1 Imports.

The new location is brighter, has vaulted ceilings, and is about 25 percent to 30 percent larger than the previous store, said general manager Terry Bruneau. "There's a bigger floor; right when you walk in the door, our guests are going to notice the difference," Bruneau said.

"Customers said they loved the change," Bruneau said about the store's opening. "We had a busy first day."

Some aisles have expanded as a result of the extra space. The new store carries more birthday materials and catering goods, and has an expanded balloon counter and greeting card section, Bruneau said.

Before the change, some of the shoppers at the Irvine location said they were unaware of the impending move, wondering aloud why the shelves were increasingly empty. Signs alerting customers to the move plastered every aisle though, and many seemed unfazed by the change.

"I'll probably still go there, it's not too far," said Ellen Park, 41, of Irvine, as she picked out lollipops and candy.

Bruneau said he hopes everyone will make the jaunt across the street.

"We're just extremely excited to be bigger and better for our clientele," he said.